I just got an email that there's a parvo outbreak among the puppies in foster care at the shelter I work at. Since they're in foster I wouldn't worry but they've all been in and out of the shelter because the volunteers bring them to the shelter when they're working. I haven't personally handled any of them, but I've been in the same areas as them. The email said they're pretty much putting the dog shelter on lockdown while they clean and scrub and get everything under control, but in the meantime, is this something I need to worry about? Inara's up to date on her vaccinations, but I just get paranoid. Thoughts? Am I worrying needlessly?

"Remember - every time your dog gets somewhere on a tight leash *a fairy dies and it's all your fault.* Think of the fairies." http://www.positivepetzine.com"

I know part of quarantine with parvo is to step in pans of bleach and water to sanitize the shoes. I would do that with the shoes you wore there last, and wash everything you wore, but past that I wouldn't worry personally.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

mnp13 wrote:I know part of quarantine with parvo is to step in pans of bleach and water to sanitize the shoes. I would do that with the shoes you wore there last, and wash everything you wore, but past that I wouldn't worry personally.

Yep and actually Liz I always recomend our volunteers have a pair of "shelter shoes" that are taken off before going in the house and not put on until you are out of the house. I realize nothing is absolute but every little bit helps.

The shelter will need to do more than just clean however. There should be a period of time where the runs the pups were in or areas where they frequented should not be used by other puppies for several months. Older dogs maybe

I think that even with vaccines and age you can't be too careful with Parvo - What Diana said.It used to freak me out(transmitting it to other dogs or Oscar) when I worked at the hospital, and I changed AND left my shoes there. I think the having shelter shoes is an excellent idea - the most likely thing to "pick up" the Parvo would be your shoes, unless you were rolling around with a soon-to-be-sick or sick puppy

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Diana, they are restricting use of the outdoor pens the pups were in. The only saving grace (for the shelter dogs) is that the pups are all in foster care so haven't been living at the shelter. I think only a couple of them have even been inside the shelter, and that was on the volunteer's side, not the dog side.

Thank you for the info and the suggestions for the shoes!

"Remember - every time your dog gets somewhere on a tight leash *a fairy dies and it's all your fault.* Think of the fairies." http://www.positivepetzine.com"

airwalk wrote:Yep and actually Liz I always recomend our volunteers have a pair of "shelter shoes" that are taken off before going in the house and not put on until you are out of the house. I realize nothing is absolute but every little bit helps.

This is a great suggestion and something I do after visiting the shelter. I find myself tracking through a lot of "stuff" around the grounds there

Yep, shoes seem to be our worst offenders. We all track through the "stuff" and some stuff we don't even know we are tracking through. When we had a nasty KC outbreak, I had shoe pans at all entrances and exits. We used bleach (but it does a real number on shoes and pants) so we moved to one of our cleaning chemicals...one way we found to cheat a bit so folks didn't think about it too much, we continually throughout the day we down throw rugs and had them at outside doors so people just thought they were rain wet. Most people instinctively wipe their shoes on rugs at doors. So while the exposure wasn't very long, with an outbreak and huge numbers of people moving through, every little bit counts.

airwalk wrote:Yep and actually Liz I always recomend our volunteers have a pair of "shelter shoes" that are taken off before going in the house and not put on until you are out of the house. I realize nothing is absolute but every little bit helps.

I have shoes that I ONLY wear to work, and they come off in the garage. Occasionally, if I've had anything suspicious of being overly contagious, I will have my husband meet me at the garage door with a change of clothes. I'm overly careful.

Most dogs that have had even one or two parvo vaccines are usually pretty well protected. I am sorry to hear about the outbreak, though.

Fortunately it was either a mild case or they caught it early because I guess the puppies are all doing really well. The pups are in the isolation section and the entire kennel has been scrubbed top to bottom. We're bleaching everywhere the dogs poop and the dogs are not permitted to interact. We're only allowed to walk on the parking lot (no grass) because it's easier to bleach. So it sounds like things are going to be fine for all!

"Remember - every time your dog gets somewhere on a tight leash *a fairy dies and it's all your fault.* Think of the fairies." http://www.positivepetzine.com"